Top Cyberlaw Developments of 2009 (Eric’s List)
…case of 2009. * Google’s keyword metatag announcement. Courts generally treat the inclusion of third party trademarks in keyword metatags as per se trademark infringement. But Google has confirmed that…
Torrent Sites Induce Infringement and Lose DMCA Safe Harbor–Columbia v. Fung
…[An aside: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, DON’T USE KEYWORD METATAGS EVER FOR ANYTHING. Google ignores them but judges still think keyword metatags mean something, and at least one technical “expert” (of…
Google Confirms That Keyword Metatags Don’t Matter
By Eric Goldman Few Internet technologies have horked cyberlaw as much as keyword metatags. Back in the 1990s, some search engines indexed keyword metatags, which encouraged some websites to stuff…
Ninth Circuit Groaner About Metatags–Art Attacks v. MGA
By Eric Goldman Art Attacks Ink LLC v. MGA Entertainment, Inc., CV-04-01035-RMB (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2009) What is it about metatags that cause legal folks to believe they have…
EFF’s Guide to Griping, Plus Some Recommendations of My Own
…site’s keyword metatags. Some courts lose all sense of perspective the moment they see a trademark in the keyword metatag. Plus, the keyword metatag offers very little or no SEO…
Promatek Redux: Software Consultant Enjoined from Metatag Usage and Other TM References–Deltek v. Iuvo
…of any relationship. Citing the doctrinally confused Axiom case, the court relies on the same implied-affiliation grounds for the metatags, saying “This use of Deltek’s trademarks as metatags may cause…
Catching Up on Three Keyword Advertising Cases–Hearts on Fire, Romeo & Juliette, AAA
…bound by the First Circuit’s Venture Tape case, which did not address use in commerce in a metatags case). After canvassing the statute and the precedent, the court says “there…
Second Circuit Says Google’s Keyword Ad Sales May Be Use in Commerce–Rescuecom v. Google
…sales, but I would be surprised if it did so. 3) This case also jeopardizes the rulings in those cases that keyword metatags aren’t a trademark use in commerce. The…
Keyword Ads and Other Marketing Supports Remote Jurisdiction–Market America v. Optihealth
…plaintiff trademarks as keyword triggers, and including OPC-3 in the metatags (as usual, the court was imprecise about which type of metatag, but I infer it was a keyword metatag)….
Rip-off Report Back in Court
…Report’s trademarks by creating and using the URL “http://rip-off-report.pissedconsumer.com” and putting “Rip-off Report” in the site metatags. Hmm…does Rip-off Report really want to establish the precedent that these activities infringe???…